The Victorian Era
The Victorian Era was a time of extravagance in every way possible. Wealth was everything to the people of the Victorian era. What a woman wore was seen as a reflection of her family’s or husband’s wealth. That being said, what you wore was a dictation of your wealth and status. Women in this time period were treated as objects of beauty and wealth. Women wore very large and exaggerated, layered hoop dresses and extremely tight corsets all thanks to Queen Victoria. Queen Victoria’s reign starting in 1847, signified the start of the Victorian era fashion. Her influence on fashion affected everything from the silhouette of dresses to the color. In fact, Queen Victoria started the tradition of wearing an elegant white wedding dress. After Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, died she went into mourning meaning that she would strictly only wear dark colors. This led to dark colors such as black, grey, and purple to become very popular among the Victorian people. While women wore long, modest, and very large dresses, men wore ridgid suits with patterns to signify their wealth. Pinstripes and plaid symbolizes wealth because the patterns were more difficult and expensive to make. In terms of beauty, Victorian era women did not wear any makeup at all and their hair was a prized item. Women would save their old hair either to put back in their head to create a certain hairstyle or use it to make hair art. All in all, the Victorian people craved elegance, status, and wealth, and portrayed all of this through what they wore.
DAYWEAR
In the Victorian Era women were never caught dead in “comfortable” clothes. No matter what they were doing, women were always seen in a two piece gown with a corset and crinoline hoop skirt. As seen in this picture, a woman would do an average day time activity with her hoop skirt, corset, bonnet, and many layers on.
The crinoline hoop skirt was a cage like skirt made out of muslin tape and metal hoops. The purpose of this skirt was to create an extreme hoop effect and a large circumference to the skirt of a women’s dress. It was worn underneath many layers of different petticoats. The crinoline was worn by every woman in the Victorian Era, no matter her status, but a larger crinoline skirt meant that one was more wealthy. The crinoline affected every aspect of a woman’s life. It made it hard for a woman to sit down and even walk through doorways.
The bertha collar was a thin piece of fabric worn over a garment that laid over the shoulders and decolletage of a woman. This was a large collar to create a dramatic effect on an outfit. Most bertha collars were lace and worn with leg of mutton sleeves.
EVENINGWEAR
This specific dress was Queen Victoria’s ball gown for the Stuart Ball in 1851. Notice the off-the-shoulder look of the dress. This style is known as a decollete neckline. The decollete neckline revealed the shoulders and upper decolletage of a womens chest. This style was a popular look for formal dresses. Also on this dress, a beautiful bertha collar is featured, elaborating the decollete neckline. Another key idea to note about this dress is the very intricate detailing. The ball gown has very luxurious detailing to represent beauty and wealth.
The silhouette of this dress is very extreme and represents the Victorian Era ball gown very well. This dress has a very large crinoline skirt with a very small waist due to the corset underneath. This dress also has intricate detailing complete with black lace and a decollete neckline.
This painting of a women in 1880 perfectly represents a leg of mutton sleeve. A leg of mutton sleeve almost resembles a lamb leg in which it is very tight from the elbow to wrist and puffs out from the elbow to shoulder. This voluminous gathering of fabric from the elbow to shoulder creates another dramatic effect to an already extravagant Victorian dress.
MENSWEAR
This odd length coat is known as a frock coat. Frock coats were popular business attire among upper class men. The frock coat was smaller at the waist and went to knee length or mid-thigh length. Below the waist was full, which gave it a fitted waist look. The frock coat also only buttoned to the waist and proceeded to flare at the bottom.
The Victorian era mens necktie was known as cravat. The cravat was a short tie that could be tied in many different ways. It was usually worn in a slipknot with the leftover fabric hanging in the front.
A Victorian men's suit would not be complete without a waistcoat. A waistcoat, which also resembles a vest, was worn under a jacket and on top of a dress shirt. The waistcoat was usually the only colored garment of the suit. It was either made of silk or an embroidered fabric. Most waistcoats were double breasted and had notched lapels.
ACCESSORIES
The infamous corset was a staple for Victorian Era women. A corset is a woman's undergarment designed to change the shape and size of a woman's waist. Corsets were so tight at the waist that it led to extreme health problems. Eventually, a woman's body conformed to the corset resulting in it being life threatening to take it off. Corsets were worn over an under shirt so that it would not directly touch the skin and it laced up in the back to achieve desired tightness. Most women wanted their waistline to be restricted to an astounding 17 inches. This corset craze also led to people dressing their daughters in corsets, starting at age 3.
A bonnet was a type of hat which practically covered a woman’s entire head, excluding her face. They either have a front brim or no brim depending on the style. A bonnet usually had a tie under the chin to secure it to a woman’s head. The bonnet evolved from being barely decorated to heavily decorated with lace, ribbon, and other trimmings. A bonnet was made of straw and decorated with extra accessories.
The popular shoe of the Victorian Era was the cuban heel. The cuban heel was a woman’s practical shoe consististing a thick and supportive heel. Another popular shoe was the much fancier, louis heel, which is not pictured but very important to mention.
The following image is a drawing of a women's sunshade, known as a parasol. Because a pale and porcelain skin tone was the ideal of beauty at this time parasols were very popular to keep the sun off of a woman's skin. Like the bonnet, these parasols were highly decorated complete with many different trimmings. Most parasols were made from the fabrics of silk and lace. The parasol also was used for communication purposes between a man and a woman. For example, an unmarried woman would shield her face with a parasol while talking to a man.
